Curiosity Rover Drills Into Mars for 1st Time

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has drilled into the Red Planet for
the first time in a major test of the 1-ton robot's ability to
dig into the Martian surface and collect samples.

The Curiosity
rover used the drill at the tip of its robotic arm to
excavate a small hole 0.8 inches (2 centimeters) deep into a
Martian rock called "John Klein," mission scientists announced
today (Feb. 7). The so-called "mini-drill test" marked the first
time Curiosity used both the hammer and rotating action of its
Mars drill.

The rover pulverized the rock at its drill site, creating what
appeared to be fine particles that could be used in
sample-collection tests. Photos of Curiosity's first drill site
on Mars revealed a small, perfectly round hole surrounded by the
drill cuttings.

"If the drill cuttings on the ground around the fresh hole pass
visual evaluation as suitable for processing by the rover's
sample handling mechanisms, the rover team plans to proceed with
commanding the first full drilling in coming days," mission
managers said in a statement. [ Curiosity
Rover's Amazing Mars Photos ]

Curiosity's science team received confirmation of the drill test
on Wednesday (Feb. 6) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
in Pasadena, Calif., which is home to the rover's mission control
center. An earlier test performed over the past weekend used only
the hammering, percussive action of Curiosity's drill.

Mission scientists picked the John Klein rock for Curiosity's
drilling tests because it appeared to hold clues into the
region's watery past.

"Pre-drilling observations of this rock yielded indications of
one or more episodes of wet environmental conditions," mission
managers explained. "The team plans to use Curiosity's laboratory
instruments to analyze sample powder from inside the rock to
learn more about the site's environmental history."

Curiosity's drill is one of the many tools the rover is using to
photograph and analyze the surface of Mars like never before. The
car-size robot landed in the vast Gale Crater on Mars on Aug. 5
to begin a two-year prime mission that aims to determine if the
region could have ever supported primitive microbial life.

Since landing, Curiosity has already discovered evidence that the
area once contained a flowing stream of water in the ancient
past.

The ultimate destination of the $2.5 billion
Mars rover Curiosity is the base of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile (5
kilometers) peak that rises from the center of Gale Crater.
Mission scientists ultimately plan to send Curiosity partway up
the Martian mountain in order to better study the geology of the
huge crater.